2012 arrives...

...and A Month of VERTIGO is about to begin...

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A Month of VERTIGO: the Bloggers...

Arriving with 2012 will be this blog’s first major event, A Month of VERTIGO. The month will feature 10 11 bloggers and one ‘vlogger' reflecting on facets of Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958).

Unpopular with critics and audiences when it was released, Vertigo has endured. Today it is generally considered the great auteur's masterpiece of masterpieces and is one of the most highly regarded films in movie history. Vertigo is an ambitious work of grand scale and reputation - a staggering review subject for the lone blogger. And so, we eleven twelve have joined together to contemplate this masterwork from many angles.

Here's what to expect at The Lady Eve's Reel Life during January 2012:

January 1, R.D. Finch of The Movie Projector offers Deadly Obsession: Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo.

January 4, Whistlingypsy of Distant Voices and Flickering Shadows muses on Bernard Herrmann ~ Composer of Haunting Music and Treacherous Dreams.

January 7, Christian Esquevin of Silver Screen Modiste and author of Adrian: Silver Screen to Custom Label takes a look at the costumes and the characters who wore them with The Costumes of Vertigo.

January 10, Brandie Ashe of True Classics considers Kim Novak in Vertigo: A Hypnotic Presence.

January 13, Michael Nazarewycz of Filmoria.com, ManILoveFilms.com and ScribeHard on Film contemplates the setting of Vertigo, that "jewel of American cities," with More Than Just the Streets of San Francisco.

January 16, Steven DeRosa, author of Writing With Hitchcock, looks at Vertigo from the perspective of  screenwriter Samuel A. Taylor with An Inconsequential Yarn.

January 19, John Greco of Twenty Four Frames offers his recent interview with preeminent Hitchcock biographer Patrick McGilligan (Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light) on the subject of Vertigo and the filmmaker who conceived it.

January 22, Allen Hefner of Bit Part Actors honors those with roles small and momentary in Vertigo’s supporting cast with Vertigo, the Bit Players.

January 25, Classic Film Boy of Classic Film Boy’s Movie Paradise assesses James Stewart's iconic and complex performance as ‘Scottie Ferguson’ in Vertigo.

January 28, Brandon Kyle Goco of TCM’s Classic Film Union, Brandon Kyle the Cinephile and guest host of TCM’s October podcast series will ‘vlog’ (video blog) about his passion for Vertigo.

January 31 - Dan Auiler, author of the most essential book on Vertigo out there, VERTIGO: The Making of a Hitchcock Classic. A late addition to the guest contributor group, Dan offers Marking Vertigo, which he describes as "understanding Vertigo as Madeleine with Chris Marker as guide.

February 3 - I'll ponder Vertigo in relation to the the French noir novel it was adapted from, D'Entre Les Morts by Boileau-Thomas Narcejac.

Each post will include a bit of background on its author plus links to the contributor’s blog or site. Please join us for what promises to be a month of wide-ranging commentary on the Hitchcock film that critic David Thomson called "a masterpiece and an endless mystery," and about which he wrote, "It's a test case: If you are moved by this film, you are a creature of cinema..."

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A Blog Full of Gifts From Me to You...

The Lady Eve offers a blogful of holiday cheer this year. Here's what's under the tree...

~ Two Icons Singing: Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra sing "White Christmas" on a December 1957 TV special...

~ A Festive Romp From the 1970s: Kenneth More and Albert Finney sing "I Like Life" in the 1970 film Scrooge...

~ From Disney's Fantasia (1940): "The Nutcracker Suite"...

~ Judy, Judy, Judy...No holiday would be complete without hearing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" at least once. Here's Judy singing to her children, Lorna and Joey, in 1963 on the 'Christmas Show' for her CBS TV program...

~ A Holiday Movie: The Mitchell Leisen directed, Preston Sturges penned, yuletide classic Remember the Night (1940), starring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck - all one hour and 33 minutes of it...

Happy Holidays!

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'TIS THE SEASON...

 

The weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful...which means it's a perfect time to snuggle down into a favorite chair, remote in hand, and decide: DVR or DVD?

With Christmas just a week away I've picked a few long-time holiday favorites to watch along with one or two that have come into my life more recently...

Remember the Night

Remember the Night  (1940), directed by Mitchell Leisen from a Preston Sturges' screenplay, debuted on Turner Classic Movies a few seasons ago, which is where I first encountered it. A jewel! Fred MacMurray stars as an Assistant D.A. who falls for thief Barbara Stanwyck during the holidays. With Beulah Bondi, Elizabeth Patterson and Sterling Holloway, music by Frederick Hollander (known for his work with Marlene Dietrich). Remember the Night is a compelling tale delivered by a very sharp script and a superb cast, qualities that should establish it as an enduring holiday classic.  Click here for more on Remember the Night from Jim Lane's Cinedrome.

I've already watched Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) once this season. It is Vincente Minnelli's simply magical confection of 100% pure fine-spun Americana. Set in turn-of-the-century St. Louis, the film follows "a year in the life" of the Smith family. Margaret O'Brien famously portrays precocious (annoying?) tyke "Tootie" Smith to the hilt, but it is Judy Garland as Esther Smith who glows as the film's centerpiece. And there are the songs, now classics, she introduced in the film..."The Boy Next Door," "The Trolley Song" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." I'll probably watch Meet Me in St. Louis one time more before the holidays are over.

Christmas in Connecticut

Christmas in Connecticut (1945) has been on my "every year" list for a while now.  I can't resist this home front romp about a career woman (Barbara Stanwyck) with zero homemaking skills who falls for a Navy vet (Dennis Morgan) who dreams of home cooked meals and every domestic delight.  Last year I blogged about the movie and the year in which it was released, 1945. It was the year World War II ended, the year American troops were finally home for Christmas. Click here for my 2010 reflection on Christmas in Connecticut.

The Shop Around the Corner (1940), is my favorite film of director Ernst Lubitsch and contains one of James Stewart's finest performances along with the best of Margaret Sullavan, Frank Morgan and Felix Bressart. I posted on Shop, a must-see film, just a week or so ago...click here, if you missed it. And if you've missed the film so far this year, it airs in just about an hour (Dec. 18, 10am Eastern/7am Pacific) on Turner Classic Movies.

The Bishop's Wife

In The Bishop's Wife (1947) Cary Grant stars as an angel...typecasting at its finest, I'd say! I first saw The Bishop's Wife in the 1980s and, when I discovered it, was surprised I hadn't heard of it before. Now it surfaces every year, everywhere, a seasonal standard (and it will air once more on TCM  this year - late on Christmas Eve). The fine cast includes David Niven, Loretta Young, Monty Woolley, Gladys Cooper, James Gleason, Sara Haden and Elsa Lanchester. The film's yuletide sentiment is reflected throughout and nicely encapsulated in the Bishop's final sermon, "Let us ask ourselves what we would wish for most, and then let each put in his share. Loving kindness, warm hearts and the stretched out hand of tolerance. All the shining gifts that make peace on earth." 


...Because she does it so well, here's Peggy Lee singing a holiday standard that expresses my wishes for each of you (click to listen)...

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...More About "A Month of VERTIGO"

Not long ago I sat down with the 1956 British translation of Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac's D'Entre Les Morts (1954). The book is now published under the title Vertigo (it was originally called 'The Living and the Dead') owing to the legend that is the 1958 Alfred Hitchcock film based on Boileau/Narcejac's novel. When I finished reading, I wanted to blog about Vertigo and decided to try to do it "with a little help from my friends." One of these friends (Brandon Goco) even created a 'teaser' for what turned into the project we're calling A Month of VERTIGO:

A Month of VERTIGO will begin January 1 and run through the month (and into early February) - with ten bloggers (including me) and one 'vlogger' (video blogger) contemplating Vertigo from a variety of perspectives. More details will appear soon about Reel Life's first major blog event.

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The Shop Around the Corner (1940): A Lubitsch Christmas

It is only occasionally that a film ages with extraordinary grace. Ernst Lubitsch's 1940 classic,The Shop Around the Corner, has mellowed in the manner of a rare and prized bottle of Hungarian Tokaji Aszú...

Balta Street, Budapest

Director Lubitsch, revered for sophisticated films spun with his light-as-air "touch" and at an artistic peak in 1940, took special care with The Shop Around the Corner. It was one of his favorites of own films, and he wrote, “Never did I make a picture in which the atmosphere and the characters were truer…” This atmosphere is unmistakable. With the first strains of “Ochi Tchornya” heard over Leo the Lion’s roar, in the dreamlike setting near Budapest’s historic Andrassy Street and in unique and distinctive characters, the spirit of old Europe is alive on screen. 

Set during Christmastime in the snow-dusted capital, the story follows a series of mix-ups and missteps between employees of a picturesque gift shop in the heart of the city. Two clerks carry on a battle-of-the-sexes while romantically pursuing anonymous pen pals; the shop owner suspects betrayal at home and at work; a duplicitous clerk is up to ugly mischief and a wisecracking errand boy has an eye for the main chance…

Matuschek's gift shop

Samson Raphaelson (Suspicion, Green Dolphin Street) penned a screenplay based on Nikolaus (Miklós) László’s play; William H. Daniels (The Naked City, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) shot it and Werner Heymann (Ninotchka, To Be or Not to Be) wrote the score.

A sparkling ensemble cast features several of MGM’s top supporting players. Among them is Frank Morgan in one of his most interesting roles as Mr. Matuschek, the colorful charmer who owns the gift shop. A somber turn in the subplot gives Morgan a chance to portray his character's darker emotions.

Peerless Felix Bressart plays the meek/endearing clerk, Pirovich. Versatile Joseph Schildkraut defines ‘loathsome’ as Vadas. Also in the featured cast are Sara Haden, William Tracy and Inez Courtney.

Felix Bressart and James Stewart

The legendary  chemistry between stars James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan illuminates the screen. Stewart is at his most appealing as Mr. Kralik, head clerk and right hand man to Mr. Matuschek. In this role, Stewart's broad signature mannerisms are tempered by the sensitivity with which he portrays Kralik's romantic yearnings. But it is Sullavan's performance that mesmerizes. Her Klara Novak, a headstrong shop girl blinded by lofty ideals, is a high-strung romantic whose breathless eagerness is offset by her brittle fragility.

Margaret Sullavan

Margaret Sullavan was discovered on Broadway by director John M. Stahl (Leave Her to Heaven) who brought her to Hollywood to star in Only Yesterday (1933) with John Boles. By this time Sullavan had already married and divorced Henry Fonda and would soon marry director William Wyler. By 1936 the actress was married to agent/producer Leland Hayward and about to make her best films: Three Comrades (1938), for which Sullavan earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination, The Shopworn Angel (1938), The Shop Around the Corner (1940) and The Mortal Storm (1940). In the last three she co-starred with Stewart. The pair had first worked together on Next Time We Love (1936), a result of Sullavan suggesting her friend Stewart for the part. In The Shop Around the Corner, the third of the their four collaborations, the co-stars seem to all but dance together, such is the rhythm between them.

With the closing scenes of The Shop Around the Corner, Lubitsch demonstrates his consummate finesse…

Frank Morgan and Charles Smith

Mr. Matuschek returns to his store on Christmas Eve to total the day’s receipts, thank his staff and hand out bonuses. It is closing time and as the wistful shopkeeper departs, he says goodnight to, and we have our last glimpse of, most of the other characters as they depart for the holidays.

When the shop's new errand boy, Rudy (Charles Smith), emerges, Matuschek takes him under his wing and out to a glorious Christmas dinner of roast goose, potatoes in butter…and “a double order of apple strudel in vanilla sauce.” The two, no longer facing a lonely Christmas Eve, strike up a jubilant rapport.

Inside the darkened shop, Stewart and Sullavan move in perfect harmony as Kralik and Klara finally discover each other. This last scene, one of the most deeply romantic and witty ever confected, reveals the distilled essence of Lubitsch’s “touch.”

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